Eight years ago, the criminal case of Gábor Simon, the then deputy president of the MSZP, began, which - if everything goes well - could end with a first-degree verdict next year. Already the third judge is hearing the case at the Capital Court.

In the trial of Gábor Simon, the former deputy president of the MSZP, the evidence procedure can be continued at the Metropolitan Court next week with the re-examination of the forensic accounting expert. Originally, the evidence procedure of the socialist politician's trial, which was restarted for the third time, would have continued on May 3.

Despite the fact that Gábor Simon has been in court for six years, there was a change of judge in his case in 2020 and again this year, and a first-instance verdict is not expected this year either.

At the hearing on October 11, the book expert can be heard again, since according to the defense's point of view, the expert made numerical errors, so his expert opinion is useless. The essence of the dispute is whether the politician had any income during the period of the accusations, beyond the allowance of his representative and state leader. According to the expert, there was not, so the total amount parked abroad is of unclear origin, the accused and his lawyer are of the opposite opinion. The procedure, which seems like a war of numbers, is necessary to determine the exact amount of the budget fraud.

Lawyer István Nagy, Simon Gábor's defense attorney, told Magyar Nemzet: according to his opinion, the prosecutor's office cannot say or prove when the sums claimed from the accused were incurred.

According to the lawyer, the budget fraud could only be proven if the prosecution could determine exactly when the amounts found in the foreign bank accounts were generated, because this is the only way to tell whether or not they had to be taxed.

The lawyer believes that there is only a chance for the case to be completed in the first instance if the expert gives an acceptable answer to them, otherwise they want to appoint a new expert, as a result of which the verdict will definitely be postponed until next year, when the case will be nine years old.

The full article of Magyar Nemzet can be read here.

Author: János László Szemán

Photo: István Mirkó